China's 'E-bikes' sound the charge during rush hour

China, the world's bicycle kingdom – one for every three inhabitants – is going electric.

Workers weary of crammed public transport or pedaling long distances to jobs are upgrading to battery-powered bikes and scooters. Even some who can afford cars are ditching them for electric two-wheelers to avoid traffic jams and expensive gasoline.

The bicycle was a vivid symbol of China in more doctrinaire communist times, when virtually no one owned a car. Even now, nearly two decades after the country began its great leap into capitalism, it still has 430 million bicycles by government count, outnumbering electric bikes and scooters 7-to-1.

Production of electric two-wheelers has soared from fewer than 200,000 eight years ago to 22 million last year, mostly for the domestic market. The industry estimates about 65 million are on China's roads.

Car sales are also booming, but there are still only 24 million for civilian use, because few of the 1.3 billion population can afford them. Unlike in many other developing countries, Chinese cities still have plenty of bicycle lanes, even if some have made way for cars and buses. “E-bike” riders are on the move in the morning or late at night, in good weather or bad. When it's wet, they are a rainbow army in plastic capes.

The trend is catching on in the United States and elsewhere.

In Japan, plug-in bicycles are favored by cost-conscious companies and older commuters.

Australians use electric bicycles in rural towns that lack bus and train service.

In the Netherlands, an especially bicycle-friendly country, the industry says sales passed 138,800 last year.

In India, Vietnam and other developing countries, competition from motorcycles, as well as a lack of bike lanes and other infrastructure, are obstacles.

In China, electric bikes sell for 1,700 yuan to 3,000 yuan ($250 to $450). They require no helmet, plates or driver's license, and they aren't affected by restrictions many cities impose on fuel-burning two-wheelers.

It costs a mere 1 yuan (15 U.S. cents) – about the same as the cheapest bus fare – to charge a bike for a day's use, says Guo Jianrong, head of the Shanghai Bicycle Association, an industry group.

They look like regular bicycles, only a bit heavier with the battery strapped on. Some can be pedaled; others run solely on battery. In China, their maximum weight is about 90 pounds, and maximum legal speed is about 12 mph.

The “E-bike” doesn't emit greenhouse gases, though it uses electricity from power plants that do. The larger concern is the health hazards from production, recycling and disposal of lead-acid batteries.

Although China is beginning to turn out more electric bikes equipped with nickel-meter-hydride and lithium-ion batteries, 98 percent run on lead-acid types, Guo says.